OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) is a disease that adversely affects an estimated more than 10 million adults in the United States alone. The disorder manifests itself when a person has repeated trouble breathing at night. The trouble breathing results from a collapse and hence obstruction of the pharynx (throat air passage). When this occurs, at the least it disturbs sleep but can also cause cardiac arrest. Those who suffer from OSA tend to have excessive daytime sleepiness, which can lead to lost productivity and accidents.
The best method for treating OSA is with a device that provides PAP (positive airway pressure) to a patient at night. The patient typically wears a mask such as a mask that fits over the nose. The mask is pressurized with a gas such as air that is maintained a positive gauge pressure that may be in the range of 5 to 25 cm of water. The positive pressure applied to the nose will tend to prevent obstruction by distending the collapsible throat air passage.
The most general form of PAP is CPAP, or continuous positive airway pressure. This is effective, but it can have some drawbacks. For some patients with weakened pulmonary systems, breathing in and out with constant pressure may be labored. For those patients in particular PAP systems that provide variation in pressure that is timed with the cycle of breathing is preferred. This application of pressure is referred to as IPAP (inspiratory positive airway pressure) and EPAP (expiratory positive airway pressure).
Historically OSA has been treated in sleep clinics where the OSA problem can be diagnosed and treated. This tends to be quite expensive, impractical, and uncomfortable. To address these issues, PAP devices have been designed for the home. The devices are relatively inexpensive; in fact, one such device may cost less than spending a few days in a sleep clinic. But along with a great benefit, sending such devices home with patients creates some new issues.
Such issues with take-home PAP systems have to do with patient-to-patient variations and with variations in a particular patient's condition. Historically the proper settings for a PAP device need to be determined in a sleep clinic. This is very expensive and probably impractical given the number of those victimized by OSA. In addition, when a patient has time-based variations this cannot be properly addressed by a sleep clinic. There is a need for a take home PAP apparatus that can address these patient to patient and time based variations.